Kelly Whitfield > Teacher Stern LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Teacher Stern LLP
37-41 BEDFORD ROW
LONDON
WC1R 4JH
England
Kelly Whitfield photo

Work Department

Corporate & Commercial

Position

Kelly is an experienced corporate and commercial lawyer with broad transactional expertise in a wide range of sectors. Kelly advises on all aspects of private company mergers,
acquisitions, investments and disposals acting for both buyers and sellers and has experience in working in, amongst others, the transport, property investment and management,
media and advertising, manufacturing and healthcare sectors.

Kelly also handles certain financing arrangements, including debt/equity conversions, convertible loan note and invoice discount financing, and advises on a broad spectrum of commercial
contracts, including complex manufacturing and distribution agreements, white label licensing agreements, shareholders’ agreements and limited liability partnership arrangements.

Another area of Kelly’s expertise is employee benefits, in particular share schemes (both HMRC approved and unapproved schemes) where she has spent much time developing
this area of practice around the concept of using an analytical approach to create effective business solutions for clients that genuinely contribute to improved performance
across their business.
Together with the rest of the employment team, Kelly works with our clients to fund cost reductions, ways to improve motivation and performance and attain staff retention targets
through arrangements such as share option schemes, flexible working and salary sacrifice schemes.

Kelly has:

• acted as one of the lead advisors on the acquisition by Metroline Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Corporation) of 31 bus routes operated from five separate bus depots in West London from First Group plc for a consideration of £57.5 million

• advised on a complex joint venture arrangement between two significant healthcare providers collaborating to provide comprehensive specialist treatments to patients at single geographical locations

• acted as the lead corporate advisor on a complex restructuring and refinancing of an extensive London based property holding and management business for a family owned and managed enterprise

• acted for the trustees of a significant London based property portfolio on its restructuring from a trust arrangement into a limited liability partnership structure

• advised on the sale of a corporate entity operating a central London based hotel

• acted on the investment into a successful South Kensington based patisserie venture

Kelly leads the firm’s Corporate Social Responsibility team which is comprised of employees from all aspects of the firm creating an enthusiastic and imaginative team of people that are passionate about making a difference in the community. Kelly and the CSR team have been involved in baking cakes, rowing dragon boats on the river Thames and painting walls to name but a few.

Kelly also heads up Teacher Stern’s training team and is responsible for overseeing the training of all staff. In particular, Kelly is responsible for monitoring the training provided across the firm to its legal advisors and ensuring that the continuing competence requirements are met and that all staff receive a wide range of training and support to enable them to provide their skills to the highest possible level both to clients and others within the firm.

Career

Qualified at Teacher Stern in 2003

Education

University of Exeter – LLB (Hons)

Lawyer Rankings

London > Corporate and commercial > M&A: Smaller Deals, £10m-£100m

Praised by one client for possessing ‘a level of technical knowledge unrivalled by any other’, the corporate team at Teacher Stern LLP  handles the full gamut of corporate transactions for a client base spanning from international corporates to entrepreneur-led companies. The practice is jointly headed up by David Ponsford and Kelly Whitfield, whose expertise includes limited liability partnership agreements. Other key figures include David Salisbury, who is particularly experienced in sports-based work, and Claire Rollo, who advises various SMEs across a range of sectors, spanning hospitality, real estate and security services.